


Bring Me to Life

by chrismequick



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, Minor Character Death, jungwoo is technically an angel but also not, lucas is a racer, meaning they're already kinda close with each other, subtle dotae, the fic starts in the middle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-28 00:36:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19801075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chrismequick/pseuds/chrismequick
Summary: prompt: after a car accident, Lucas is caught in the realm between life and death where he meets Jungwoo, a member of the bureau of afterlife affairs who likes him too much to let him go again





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> dear prompter: i hope you'd like this! this will be a multi-chaptered work but isn't currently finished so i'll be updating it after the fest

“You can't keep going down here like this.” 

There was no need for Lucas to turn around to know who it was who spoke. He felt Jungwoo’s presence even before he heard his voice, felt the room practically close in on him as soon as the other appeared behind him, enveloping him whole yet not at all suffocating. His mere presence made him feel calm almost, albeit the feeling was forced and unwanted. It was as if a wave of something unknown washed over him, urging him to relax, urging him to calm down  _ calm down  _ **_calm down_ ** **.**

“Stop doing that,” Lucas muttered through gritted teeth, sounding defeated all of the sudden, unable to resist the other’s effect on him. But then again, who was he to fight against the will of an angel? “You don't need to compel me to calm down, I'm fine.” 

Perhaps it was a horrible idea to lie to an angel like this and for a beat, Lucas waited for some sort of punishment to befall him. What was it that they do to sinners? Smite them? After a minute or two, Jungwoo lifted his _magik_ with a sigh, sidling up next to Lucas and turned to face what the boy has been looking at for hours instead. 

“She came to visit again, I see.” 

The angel was referring to the woman sitting right next to the tiny hospital bed, slumped over a young man's sleeping body, her hand gripping his tightly in her sleep. Even from this angle, Lucas could see traces of fatigue on her face – her cheekbones were more prominent than from when he has last seen her, her cheeks now drawn and almost hollow while the dark circles under her eyes appeared striking even against her naturally tanned skin. She looked so tired, and he could not understand why she would keep punishing herself like so. He could not understand why she would put herself in such a situation, would make it harder on herself when it would have been much easier for her to just leave and get that much needed sleep.

It would have been so much easier if she was to leave and just give up. 

  
  


Reluctantly, his eyes trailed upwards the arm she held, stopping just as he saw the sleeping boy’s face and visibly winced despite himself. The boy looked sickly like this: limbs skinny and uncharacteristically pale, the once spotless face now marred with slowly healing scars and bruises, while the constant beeping of the machine next to him remained the only giveaway that he was indeed alive and breathing. 

_ Pathetic _ . 

Lucas looked away. 

“I don't know why she keeps visiting. It's not like I'm going to wake up soon.”

For once, he was rather grateful that he could not be heard by anyone else but Jungwoo. For once, he was grateful to be in his current state – a spirit, invisible to everyone around him. 

“She's your mother.” 

There was a hint of disappointment in Jungwoo’s voice then, which took Lucas by surprise, making him turn to face the angel as if checking to see if it was indeed him who spoke. It wasn't always that he heard the other speak in such a way. The angel had always been gentle, had always been calm and collected around him and everyone else. Not once has he showed anything remotely close to a negative emotion, and Lucas had been under the angel’s care for more than three months now. 

He sighed. “I'm just saying, I wouldn't be upset if she stopped coming. I was a shit son anyway. I don't see why she would even want to keep waiting for me to wake up from this coma.” 

It was all his fault, after all. He was in such a position because of his own recklessness, his own misplaced desire to find meaning in his life by willingly putting it in danger constantly. He did nothing but make his mother feel hurt and cry in the past, so why was she even wasting her time and energy on someone like him still? 

He wouldn't blame her if she was to give up on him. 

He wouldn't blame her if she stopped waiting. 

He wouldn't blame her if she was to just let him die. 

“Don't talk like that,” Jungwoo looked at Lucas, kind eyes meeting his own. “How ever you were before, you're still her son. She loves you. And we're doing everything we can to make sure you will wake up and live again, okay?” A hand took Lucas’ and for some bizarre reason, he felt the urge to never let go. For some reason, that wave of calmness and being at peace washed over him once more but this time, he knew it wasn't because of the other's magik. “You'll be back in your body soon, I promise.” 

For once in the past three months, Lucas found himself smiling again. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> curiosity urges Lucas to look through Jungwoo's files and finds something he shouldn't have

In a blink of an eye, Lucas found himself not in the middle of a cramped hospital room anymore but in the middle of a bustling office space, paper shuffling and idle chatter now filled his ears rather than the ever constant beeping that was his mortal body’s life support. His senses were bombarded with the sickly sweet odour of something unfamiliar instead of the clean and suffocating smell of disinfectant alcohol, and the once tiled floor of the hospital was now replaced with sparkly dark marble underneath his feet. 

He would think that they have not left the mortal world if the scene before them didn't strike as odd to the normal eye. It was all so strange — the various “workers” around the office moved in such a way that it looked as if they were simply caught on film that was constantly being freeze-framed and fast-forwarded, their limbs stopping suddenly once or twice before moving again in an inhuman pace as they go through mountains and mountains of paperwork. He would think that this was a simple office space if only the marble floor didn't feel painfully mismatched, seemingly of the wrong texture, not at all hard from where he stood. It did not feel real beneath him, it did not feel like _anything_ was beneath him – it was as if he was floating. 

Lucas felt everything around him spin then, mind reeling, washed over by dizziness all of the sudden. He reached for Jungwoo’s hand to keep himself from falling. 

Laughter rang from beside him. “I apologize, I know you are still not used to this sort of _magik_.” 

“Maybe warn me next time you decide to teleport us,” Lucas breathed out, voice somewhat shaky though thankfully, the ringing in his ears was already starting to disappear.

“It's not teleport, your consciousness is simply moved through the pocket that connects the realm of the living and our realm –” 

“The spirit world,” Lucas quipped with a slight grin, completely enthused about the prospect of being in this magical reality where undetermined spirits stay, still, after all this time. The mystique hasn't worn out for him just yet, everything remained new and interesting. They don't teach such a place in any religion he knew, after all. 

No books told of a corporation-like place where spirits like him – those that were still attached to the mortal world indefinitely, their bodies living yet remained unresponsive – stay and roam. No one spoke about a place where “ _agents_ ” existed and determined where each spirit belonged to depending on their record of their time on earth. This was a world filled with file cases, paperwork, and a number of agents clad in neatly pressed suits, working on the state of everyone's afterlife in a business-like fashion. This was the in-between. And Jungwoo… 

Jungwoo was an agent here. Lucas’ agent. 

(Lucas still preferred to refer to him as an angel, however. That name suited him more.) 

“We don't call it _that._ ” Jungwoo heaved a small albeit amused sigh as he led the way past one office cubicle after another once Lucas finally found a firm footing, his hand slipping from the other’s hold. Lucas balled his hands into a fist in response, shoving both into his pockets and ignored the pang of disappointment at the loss of touch. Jungwoo, seemingly oblivious to the other’s dilemma, simply took one metallic clipboard from one of the desks and then walked on, thumbing through the papers fast enough that Lucas was not able to catch anything that may have been written on it. Does Jungwoo use his _magik_ to read? Do these agents use their _magik_ to do paperwork? To do their job? 

Why hasn't he asked Jungwoo about all of these before? 

Perhaps it was because he did not plan on staying here for a long time in the first place – he did not think he was going to. He had been waiting for Jungwoo to assign him to his final resting place ever since he got here, had been so sure that his mother was not going to keep his comatose body hooked up in that dreadful machine for too long. He had been under the impression that he was not going to stay as this unattached, not-dead-nor-alive spirit longer than he should have. So of course, he took in everything – his surroundings, the spirits and agents that have come and gone – with very little interest. And now he felt rather silly for doing that. 

In the months that he has found himself stuck here, he realized that there were still a lot of things about this place that he dared not question: why did this in-between realm ran in such a bureaucratic way? Why did some spirits wander around seemingly with no agents looking after them? Why was it that Doyoung and Taeyong, the other agents whom Lucas has formed some semblance of friendship with via Jungwoo, seem to always bicker and yet were inseparable as if they came in a package deal? 

In the months that he has been here, there were still some minute details that Lucas had not paid much attention to until now — like how similar the agents’ suits looked no matter the gender, how some spirits seem to grow paler in complexion the longer they stay in this place, how soft the tuft of hair that curled just under Jungwoo’s ear looked, how slender and beautiful Jungwoo’s fingers were...

“– stay here?” Jungwoo’s voice brought him out of his reverie, making him feel wrong-footed all of the sudden. When did they stop walking? 

“Sorry, what?” 

Jungwoo merely smiled at him and for a moment, Lucas worried that the other might have heard what he had been thinking about just now. He really hoped the other didn't have some sort of _magik_ to do that. Jungwoo pushed his office door wide open then, side-stepping to let him in. “Taeil has called for me to give me my new assignment. Would it be okay if I leave you for a while? You can stay here if you want or you can go back to your quarters?” 

Lucas shook his head in response, taking the seat across the big, glass table in the middle of the room without any second thought. “I can wait.” He didn't have anything to do if he was to go back after all – his room only served as a fancy yet suffocating cell for him most days. It was so alien to him, so white. So pristine. And it felt as if his mere presence was enough to contaminate the whole place. Which was perhaps why he opted to follow Jungwoo around everyday since he arrived, and today was no different. 

“Alright, I won't take long.” 

He nodded and watched as Jungwoo place the clipboard on his table, piling it on top of other file folders and such that already covered half of its surface. Sometimes he wondered how Jungwoo was able to work in such a condition. He would definitely tidy up as soon as Jungwoo leaves. 

“Okay,” he said, grinning. “I'll be here.” 

He waited for a beat or two after the other left before he stood up and approached the glass table filled with nothing but mess. This was the least he could do; he was sure Jungwoo didn't really appreciate having him around all the time like he claimed he did, so he could at least try and do something nice for him. 

Lucas started arranging all the scattered paperwork on the desk, putting one folder on top of another in a neat pile. September 2018 October, 2018 November, 2018 December, 2019 January, Feb— _oh_.

February 2019. The month of his accident. 

He stared at the thin black scrawl on the front of the thick folder, the letters somewhat ineligible as if they were written in an unknown language and yet he was able to understand what it meant. He was curious now and was unable to shake the temptation (perhaps a morbid one, at that) to see what was inside. He knew the folders contained the list of people who passed away on that month, remembered how Jungwoo explained such a thing to him on the first day of following his agent around. And now… now he wondered if his name would be on there. 

It wouldn't hurt to look, right?

Without thinking twice about it, Lucas flicked through the pages within, eyes skimming past each name and dates until he found the one he was looking for. _February 11, February 11._ His name shouldn't be in there, could it? After all, he wasn't dead. Not really. But if it was… he wondered where they (or whoever was in charge) placed him. Where was he going to go? Paradise or hell? 

“Ah! Found it.” There were a few names listed under the date, maybe somewhere around 20-30 but there was only one name, one death, with the exact same date and location of his own accident. “February 11, 2019. 21:36. Eonju-ro, Seoul. Mark Lee. Cause of death: car crash.” 

No. 

There has to be a mistake. 

“Mark… He’s dead?” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas reveals something about the night of the accident

**_Name_ ** _: Mark Lee_

 **_Time of death_ ** _: February 11; 21:36_

 **_Location_ ** _: Eonju-ro, Seoul, South Korea_

 **_Cause of death_ ** _: car crash_

Lucas skimmed through the other details, his fingers practically shaking as he held onto the folder and tried his hardest to not drop it. He skimmed through a lengthy summary of the boy’s life, flipping through the pages until he found what he was looking for: the details of Mark's death. 

“ _Mark, having been distracted by another collision that happened a few minutes before his own, lost control and crashed onto the side of a building under construction. Injuries: head on collision, soft tissue neck injury, ruptured larynx and tracheal trauma, myocardial contusion and fractured sternum. Pronounced dead upon arrival in the emergency room. No other casualties involved_.” 

Lucas felt sick to the stomach as he slowly put the folder down, his knees almost buckling underneath him, a wave of both shock and guilt washing over him in that moment. Mark crashed because of a distraction caused by another collision. _His_ collision. Lucas’ accident caused this. He caused this. 

“What are you doing?” Jungwoo approached him with mild trepidation, brows furrowed with both worry and confusion, not at all sure what happened during his absence. 

“Did you know?” Lucas tried to bite back the accusatory tone as he spoke but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t help but feel as if Jungwoo, the one person who had been here with him for months after the accident, the one person he trusted in this strange place, had kept something so substantial from him. "Did you know about this?"

All the other talked about all this time was how to return to the living world; it was always about how to get Lucas’ spirit back to his body. Not once has he ever mentioned that something else happened on the night that he “died”. No one mentioned about a death that he caused. Why was Jungwoo still adamant to help him when Lucas has done something awful like this? Did he even deserve to go back and live his life as if nothing happened when someone like Mark, innocent Mark who was only there because Lucas forced him to come to the drag race under the guise of _living a little_ , passed away way too early than he should have?

Jungwoo walked over to him, slowly, careful enough not to spook or anger Lucas in any way. He peered at the opened file folder then, his expression turning into a look of a realization in an instant. 

“Mark Lee,” he spoke the name under his breath, unknowingly almost, before he turned to face Lucas once again. “Yes,” came as the answer and yet this confession did nothing to quell nor to worsen Lucas’ guilt. It was just there. And he hated it. “He died on the day you,” Jungwoo hesitated, taking a beat or two before continuing, “On the day you almost did.” 

_Almost_. That lone word managed to make him stiffen, visibly so if the way Jungwoo looked at him worriedly was anything to go by. Mark died and he didn't. And he didn't even know until now. Lucas fell onto the chair unceremoniously, head bowed in quiet surrender. 

In the next moment, Jungwoo broke the silence. “Was he your friend?” 

  
Lucas nodded, words escaping him in that instant. Mark had been a close friend for years, had been his companion and confidante since they were children. Mark knew every small detail in his life – every thing that made him tick, all his likes and dislikes, his soft spot for his younger brother that no one else seemed to notice. Mark knew all of that. Mark was his best friend and yet Lucas has caused his untimely death. 

What did Mark’s mother say? What did she think? What did she feel upon finding out that Lucas was still alive and breathing, still fighting for his life for months, while her son had been long gone? What did Mark’s mother say to his? Did she blame Lucas? 

“He's - _was_ my best friend,” Lucas looked up at Jungwoo then, eyes glassy. It was taking everything in him not to cry. “He wasn't supposed to be there. I – That night… I forced him to go out. That wasn't his scene, racing.” There was a small smile on his face then, both sad and nostalgic. He remembered how he used to practically drag the boy out of his house every weekend, taking him to places that ranged from smoky clubs to illegal drag races. He remembered how he would pout and whine and throw an over the top tantrum just to get his best friend to go with him. His attempts usually proved unsuccessful, however, resulting into a lot of doors being shut on his face or calls cut off with a loud “ _no_.” If only Mark didn't accept his invitation on the night of the accident too… 

“But for some reason he said okay. I was happy y’know? That he decided to come with me. I was going to race that night and I kinda needed support. I was never that great of a racer.” A laugh passed his lips, and despite the situation, it didn't sound strained at all. Perhaps it was because the thought of having his best friend as a support on that night brought back pleasant memories. Jungwoo smiled at him warmly in return, as if he knew where Lucas was coming from, and somehow it made him feel better even just a little bit. But in the next moment, Lucas’ smile fell. “The person I was supposed to race backed out. Which sucked because I didn't want the night to end like that. I didn't want to go home. And then Mark volunteered to race against me instead.” 

It had been an utter shock when Mark suddenly grabbed the extra helmet and started settling himself behind the wheel of the other car, joking that they should place bets on who was going to win that night. Lucas was under the impression that the boy was simply messing about, saying that to lift the mood but when Mark started the car’s engine and then looked at him expectantly, everyone realized it was for real. 

“He shouldn't have done that! He shouldn't have–” Lucas was getting angry once more, angry at how Mark literally risked his life for no apparent reason. He covered his face with both hands then, stifling a sob. “This is all my fault.” 

He felt fingers carding themselves through his hair, the touch soft and gentle – comforting. It felt rather nice. But he didn't deserve it. 

“Mark crashed because of me. I did this, and now he's dead.” 

Jungwoo, for all the wisdom he seemed to possess, was extremely confused at the boy’s statement. “Did you tamper with his car?”

“I –” He was at a loss for words at that one, looking up at the other, finally. “No, of course not.” 

“Did you have something to do with the aborted construction in the street and therefore left the unfinished foundation of the building open for possible crash sites?” 

“No, but –”

Jungwoo crouched down to take his hand then, and felt relief suddenly wash over him. He knew Jungwoo was working his compulsion on him once more but he didn't dare stop it. “It wasn’t your fault, Lucas. Your friend’s death was a tragedy, yes, but you did not cause it. It wasn’t you.” 

Despite the comforting words, Lucas didn't believe him. He didn't want to hear it. But then again, Jungwoo didn't know the whole story. 

“But I did do it. I cheated,” his voice was softer now, relaxed yet filled with unspoken grief, as if everything was finally coming out in the open and he couldn’t help but let every emotion flow out of him without any intention of stopping. “The construction site wasn’t part of the race, we weren’t supposed to be there. But I was losing y’know? To a complete newbie of all people, and I - I don’t know, it hurt my ego I guess. So I sped up and led us into the site. To try to confuse him. I just wanted him to stop! I wanted him to get lost and quit! I didn't mean–” He looked straight at Jungwoo, eyes almost pleading for other to believe him. “I didn't mean for this to happen… But I didn't know the way either and I don't know, I guess I took a wrong turn and crashed. And then Mark–” _Mark crashed soon after that led to his death,_ he didn't say but it hung above them anyway. 

For a minute, Jungwoo was silent, simply looking at him with a blank face. Was he judging him? But Jungwoo should have known this; it was his job to know what Lucas has been up to during his time on earth to be able to assess where his spirit would go after death, after all. Did Jungwoo know already? And yet he still acted as if Lucas did nothing wrong? Treated him like someone who deserved to get back to his body and live normally? He could not imagine what he would have done if he had such a knowledge about the person he was supposed to look after. 

“Taeil gave me a new assignment.” Jungwoo said, the change of topic enough to give him a case of whiplash. Were they going to simply ignore this? Was Jungwoo going to pretend that Lucas didn't just confess something monumental to him? But before Lucas can have a chance to get annoyed, the other continued, “There are a new batch of souls ready for departure and I'm assigned to accompany them.” 

“Oh.” Why was Jungwoo telling him this? 

The other simply smiled, that warm and understanding sort that was uniquely his, making Lucas’ breath catch in his throat despite himself. “I'm going to _Paradise_.” A pause, expectant almost. “Mark will be there.” 

Lucas sat up straight, the hand that was still holding Jungwoo’s tightened its grip as if per instinct. “Can I– can I come?” 

“Of course. I was hoping you would ask.”


End file.
